Food material pumps using overlapping, alternating plungers that pressurize alternating supplies of food material are known.
Food processors utilize high-speed molding machines, such as FORMAX® MAXUM700®, F-6™, F-12™, F-19™, F-26™, or F-400™ reciprocating mold plate forming machine, available from Formax, Inc. of Mokena, Ill., U.S.A., for supplying patties to the fast food industry. High-speed molding machines are also described for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,887,964; 4,372,008; 4,356,595; 4,821,376; 4,996,743, and 7,255,554.
The FORMAX® F-26™ reciprocating mold plate forming machine has enjoyed widespread commercial success for many years. A typical FORMAX® F-26™ molding machine can operate at 90 strokes per minute and produce about 32,400 patties per hour based on the standard width mold plate for the F-26™ which is about 27 inches wide and can include 6 mold cavities.
The FORMAX® F-26™ molding machine is generally described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,887,964; 4,356,595 and 4,996,743. The FORMAX® F-26™ includes a supply system for supplying a moldable food material, such as ground beef, fish, or the like, to the processing mechanisms of the machine. The supply system comprises a large food material storage hopper that opens into the intake of a food pump system. The food pump system includes at least two food pumps that continuously pump food, under pressure, into a manifold connected to a cyclically operable molding mechanism.
In the operation of a FORMAX® F-26™ patty-forming machine, a supply of ground meat or other moldable food material is disposed into the hopper from overhead. The floor of the hopper comprises a conveyor belt for moving the food material longitudinally of the hopper toward the other components of the food material supply system.
At the forward end of the hopper the food material is fed downwardly by the supply system into the intake of the reciprocating pumps constituting the pumping system. The pumps operate in overlapping alteration to each other; at any given time when the machine is in operation at least one of the pumps is forcing food material under pressure into the intake of the manifold.
The manifold comprises a valving system for feeding the food material, still under relatively high pressure, into the molding mechanism. The molding mechanism operates on a cyclic basis, first sliding a multi-cavity mold plate into receiving position over the manifold and then away from the manifold to a discharge position wherein a knock out system removes the molded products from the mold cavity.
The molding mechanism further comprises a knockout system. The knockout system comprises knockout cups, which are affixed to a carrier bar that is removably mounted upon a knockout support member. The knockout cups are coordinated in number and size to the mold cavities in the mold plate; there is one knockout cup aligned with each mold cavity and the mold cavity size is somewhat greater than the size of an individual knockout cup.
Although the FORMAX® F-26™ patty-forming machine includes an integrated overlapping, alternating dual food pumps, the present inventor has recognized the advantages of an improved food pumping system with more flexibility of application that can be incorporated into a food patty molding machine or another food processing machine such as a separator. The present inventor has recognized the need for a pumping system that had a reduced cost of maintenance and a rugged construction.